Description

Verbenone is a known anti-aggregation pheromone of mountain pine beetle (MPB), Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, and has been tested in protecting susceptible host trees from attack since 1988. Inconsistent performance of verbenone during field trials caused formulations and release devices to change through time, resulting in three products currently registered with the Environmental Protection Agency - two pouch formulations containing 7 grams of verbenone that are stapled to tree boles (available from Synergy Semiochemicals Corp. and Contech Enterprises, Inc.), and a flake formulation (available from Hercon Environmental) that can be aerially applied or applied on the ground using fertilizer spreaders.